Chapter 63: Chapter 63

CHAPTER 20

The building was clouded with the smell of incense. I could perceive hints of weed and nicotine. Good God, Natalie. This is not the place. My subconscious warns me.

"Hi." A red haired woman smoking and chewing gum loudly says. "What do you want?" She asks. She's dressed in a knit blouse— I can see her nipples. I quickly look away. My eyes fall on her dirty black boots. "You like my shoes?"

"Hello. Are you the boss?" I ask.

She chuckles, still chewing her gum. Another woman walks in. She's dressed in a black silk night gown. Her hair's wet. "Dumb." She says to the other lady.

"What do you want? Go to 111151, there's no men here." She says.

I gasp. "No! I'm not here for that. I have a job for you guys."

Both women look at each other. They look alarmed. "Are you a fucking cop?!" The red-haired woman asks.

"No! No, no. I'm not a cop. I just need you to help me. Help me lure some men into a hotel room. That's the job. I'm not a cop." I say, feeling a bit embarrassed. I couldn't believe I was doing this.

"So, what's in it for us?"

"Name your price." I say, adjusting my coat.

Again, both ladies look at each other, and immediately, I understand. This was their one golden opportunity to get enough money. It was an enticing offer indeed.

"£50,000." The one dressed in the night gown says.

"Deal. I might need the both of you. Tomorrow, by 8:30. I'll send you clothes and a makeup artist. I'll send you a car too. I'm not certain I'll be needing your services tomorrow, but, you'll be dressed before 8:30, incase I do."

They nod. "Deal. Do we get to keep the clothes?" The lady wearing the night gown asks.

"Yes, you may. May I have your numbers?" I ask. They call out their numbers. "Tomorrow, then." I say, as I turn to leave.

"Wait!" I hear. I turn.

"It's £50,000 each, right?" The red-haired woman asks. I nod and continue walking away. I sigh as soon as I get to my car. My journey was tiring, but worth it.

My phone rings. It's Lee Martins. I pick. "Hello?"

"Rousseau's?" I confirm. "Give me fifteen minutes, I'll be there."

***

As I enter Rousseau's, I freeze as soon as I see two familiar faces. Immediately, I turn around and rush outside as fast as I can. "What?" I whisper. Why were Caleb and Kelly together? I run my hand through my hair. "Kelly?"

"Ms. Richardson?" I shriek. "Oh, Lee Martins, it's you. You startled me."

"I saw you come in then rush out. Is there any problem?"

I nod. "There is. Let's get into my car." I say. No one could see us from inside my car. My car had tinted windows. We enter the car.

"First off, tell me about her. About. . ." I'm unable to say her name.

"Here." He hands me another big envelope, containing the information he'd gotten.

"Can you just give me a brief summary?"

"Amal had a child around early 2015. I can't say if it belongs to him or not. About the plane crash, from the reports, the airplane ran out of petrol. That's why it crashed. Nothing fishy."

"She was married to Luke so definitely that must be his child."

"From my findings, that child's in France."

"France? What's in France?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out. I will let you know once I know something."

"There's another thing I'd like you to add to your to-do list. I'll let you know by tomorrow. Thank you." I say. Lee Martins bows, as he always does. I was used to it. I found it weird, but apparently, in Korea, bowing was almost necessary when greeting a person, accepting or showing gratitude.

Vengeance is costly, and as Confucius once said, "When embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." One for yourself, and one for your enemy because vengeance is destructive, it destroys all.

***

I can tell that the men are ogling at my cleavage as I walk through the crowd, smiling at people I'm acquainted with.

I scan the environment, trying to find my ex-husband. Luke would definitely be at the party. Hell, for all I knew, this party might've even been a celebratory party. I walked right into my own funeral, but I didn't mind. I needed to see Alex, again. I'd pretend I had no idea the party was being hosted by his family. To get him on my side, I needed to play the innocence card.

"Natalie?" I hear. I turn. I smile. "Mrs. Devine. How lovely it is to see you. You look stunning as ever." I say, as I hug and exchange pecks with the woman.

She chuckles, "You remind me of my youth. I love the hair, your dress is just fantastic. Who are you wearing?"

"Vera Wang. You have a good eye."

"Of course!"

I chuckle, "This is my signature hairstyle. I think it accentuates my jaw line. It's more defined."

"Glamour waves. Very Marilyn Monroe-ish."

I giggle. "I'll go get some wine. How's your husband?"

"He's abroad. Please." I tap her hands and take my leave. Judith comes out of nowhere and drags me. "I told you about the fiancé thing. We're you able to arrange for someone to act the part?"

"I almost forgot about your crazy lie. Mother, it'd be best if you told them you were wrong."

"What? Not even one? For God's sake, Natalie, you're a beautiful woman, so why are you letting God's gifts and my features you inherited waste?!" She yells, beginning her drama.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Come here. You'll say that yourself." She says as she begins to drag me along with her.

"Mother! Let me go, mother."

"Eleanor!" Judith says, halting and adjusting her hair. "Say hello,” She nudges me.

"Hello. . .Mrs. . .?” I ask as soon as I see her ring.

"Eleanor Robinson." She says, giving me a warm smile. Robinson? That meant she was related to Alex. She was probably his mother. She looked like it.

I smile back, "Natalie Richardson. It's my pleasure." I say.

"Oh. I thought you were familiar. I didn't know you were the one. I'm so sorry you had to go through that." She says, holding my hands.

"Sorry?" I ask, confused.

"Well, the attempted rape. . .?” She says.

"Oh." I say, almost embarrassed. "Thank you."

"Eleanor, your family's arrived." A woman dressed richly says as she approaches us.

"I know. This is Natalie Richardson." She tells the woman. I smile.

"Oh. How are you?" The woman asks. Her facial expression makes it obvious that she knew about the attempted rape. It'd been long since I'd socialized. I'd forgotten how people could be.

"Judith Richardson." My mother says, laughing. I almost let out a laugh. Typical Judith, never wanting to be left out. The two women pay no attention to Judith and I can see her struggling to gain their attention.

"So, your mother said you have a fiancée. One would think as famous as you are, such news would make the news and hit the blogs. It didn't."

"Oh, we—

"Son?" Eleanor says. "Mom. Grandpa's loo—" I hear a voice say. I look. It's Alex. I pretend to be surprised. I gasp. "You!"

"Natalie?"

"Are you stalking me? Why are you here?" I ask, trying my best to play it cool.

He chuckles. "Well, I'd say the case is reversed. You're in my home. This is my party." I gasp, again.

"What?"

"Do you two know each other?" Eleanor asks.

"Yes, do you know him, Natalie?" Judith co-asks. Alex looks at me, smiling sheepishly. "Intimately." He says and I look at him, shell shocked. My mother gasps. Eleanor looks embarrassed.

"I'm just kidding. We've met a couple of times before, haven't we?"

I look at him, wondering if anything more than the kiss happened between us that night. "Yes. Yes, we have."  There was something about the way Alex looked at me. I couldn't quite describe it. I couldn't tell if it was attraction, amusement, infatuation, lust or if he simply was intrigued by me. There was something waiting to be said— I could tell from the way his brown eyes stared at me. I look away, uncomfortable.

"I see. So you're acquainted." Eleanor says. The other woman chuckles and intertwines her arm with Eleanor's. "Please, enjoy the party. Alex, would you accompany me?" She says to her son.

"I'll be with you shortly, mother." Alex says.

"Excuse us." I say to Judith. She gladly leaves. If I knew my mother very well, she'd only left because she'd seen another prey, someone rich and influential. She was probably hearing wedding bells already.

I clear my throat and look forward, waiting for him to initiate conversation.

"I didn't know you were coming to my mothers party. If I'd known, I'd have been at the gate to welcome you myself."

"Really? Why go an extra mile for a stranger?" I ask.

"You're no stranger, at least, not to me."

"Well, about that night, did we. . .?” I ask, pretending to cough.

He chuckles, "What if we did?" He asks. I turn towards his direction, looking him straight in the eyes.

"How dare you? You took advantage of me. I was drunk." I say. I could feel my face turn tomato red. I could feel my skin itch. Somehow, the thought of having another man inside me infuriated me. I look away, annoyed.

"Woah. Slow down, beautiful. I would never take a woman by force or take her when she's drunk. Never, especially not when that woman is you." He says. I look back at him, and for the first time in a while, I feel butterflies in my stomach. I felt shy in front of him. He continues, "We didn't have sex, okay? It was just a kiss. You kissed me. Afterwards, you just blacked out. That was it."

"How did I get home?"

"I took you. Your friend, I can't remember her name, she saw you with me and I explained to her. She was already drunk too, so I had to drive the both of you home."

"You know where I live? You were in my house?"

He smiles, showing his set of pearly white teeth. "I believe you should be saying thank you."

"Forgive me. Thank you very much."

"Accepted. Now, you owe me a favor." He says.

"A favor? Can you not do something out of the goodness of your heart? You did this the first time." Just as he holds my hand, my eyes fall on Luke and his plus one, Laurel. They were here, arm in arm.

"Hey?" Alex shakes me, regaining my attention. "Are you okay? I was asking a question. Did you hear me?"

I nod, trying to calm myself down. "No." I say, as I look at them again.

"Dance with me." Alex says and I'm about to decline, but I agree almost immediately knowing that Luke would definitely see me.

"Yes." I respond.